Willie Mays was traded to the Mets in 1972 to sell a few more seats at Shea Stadium. In fact, I recall going to a Mets game in July '72 and watching Mays for the first time in my life. The crowd went crazy when Mays came up to bat.
In 1973, the Mets won the NL East and shocked the world by beating the Reds in the NLCS.
The Mets eventually lost to the A's in the World Series. However, Willie Mays got his last hit in game 2 of the Series.
He played in two others: 1954 with the New York Giants and in 1962 with the San Francisco Giants. He made that famous catch in 1954 against Cleveland.